Once Upon a Time Recap: Straight from the Heart

This week on ABC’s Once Upon a Time, a flashback to Storybrooke’s very first days shed light on not just the new town’s vulnerability but also Regina’s. Meanwhile in the present, the malevolent madame mayor set out to finally get everything she wants.

WANNA BE STARTIN’ SOMETHIN’ | The hour opens in the year 1983 and introduces us to Kurt and Owen Flynn (Brothers & Sisters‘ John Pyper-Ferguson and 1600 Penn’s Benjamin Stockham), father-and-son campers who were in the woods when the dark curse plopped Storybrooke veritably on top of them. Venturing into this unmapped burg, they are greeted by the resident lawman, Sheriff Graham: “Welcome to Storybrooke!”

Elsewhere, Regina awakens in Storybrooke for the first time (and in satin jammies), then promptly declares, “I did it… I won,” as she looks out the window at her new dominion. One of her first stops is the school where Snow White — now known as Mary Margaret — teaches. Regina confirms that Snow has no memories of her past, even when presented with the charming John Doe who’s comatose at the hospital.

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF | Lunching at the diner (fun fact: the exact date is Oct. 23, as in Once Upon a Time‘s series launch date), Regina greets the former Huntsman: “That uniform suits you nicely, Sheriff. Sooo… well-fitted.” The flirty mood is cooled when Kurt and Owen show up, and Regina feels threatened by these strangers.

Regina arranges for the Flynns’ car to get repaired pronto, lest they overstay their welcome. But after Owen gifts her with a braided keychain — and as she experiences her humdrum, Groundhog Day-like existence (with Dr. Hopper playing the role of Ned Ryerson) — she goes to see Gold, sharing her dissatisfaction. “This isn’t the deal we made… I was supposed to be happy here,” she vents. “Everyone does what I want them to…. It’s not real.” The pawn shop owner, though, claims to have no idea what she is talking about.

MANIAC | Regina has Kurt and Owen over for dinner (“I’m not the greatest cook, unless it involves apples”), where she learns that the Mrs. is not “back in New Jersey with the Boss” but dead, ergo the camping getaway. As they bake turnovers together, Owen asks why Regina isn’t a mom, to which she shrugs, “It didn’t work out that way, I guess.” Realizing what she may be missing, she invites the Flynns to stay in Storybrooke — but Kurt declines.

Later, Regina uses Graham’s heart to command him to keep the Flynns from leaving town — but Kurt is standing behind her hearing every word, including how she wants Owen for herself. Kurt is understandably freaked out, and almost is tackled by an arriving Graham, until the sheriff’s heart falls off the table and impairs him some.

NEVER GONNA LET YOU GO | Kurt and Owen hop in their truck and make a beeline for the town line, but Graham and Regina pursue in the patrol car and cut them off. Kurt sends Owen to run off into the woods, as he allows himself to be detained. “I’m sorry,” Regina apologizes to the departing lad. “I just wanted us to be happy.” Owen later returns with state troopers to the town line, but Regina has now cloaked Storybrooke, so they find nothing. Owen cries out into the distance: “I’ll never stop looking, Dad!”VIDEO | Watch Once Upon a Time‘s Complete PaleyFest Panel Q&A

In present-day Storybrooke….

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU | Regina is with her mother’s casket when Gold arrives to pay his respects, saying that even with all their differences, “Cora will always have a place in my heart.” Regina’s mood remains ice-cold as she vows to make Mary Margaret die for what she did. Gold reminds her, “You can’t have everything. If you want vengeance, Henry is the price you’ll pay.” Regina, though, is determined to find a way to have it all.

At the Charmings, Mary Margaret is sick with guilt over her actions. Henry senses something is up and beseeches his lying liar of a birth mom to ‘fess up. Emma explains that Mary Margaret was partially responsible for Cora’s death, which Henry has trouble believing: “She’s Snow White — she wouldn’t hurt anybody!” Gold arrives to warn the clan that Regina means to kill Mary Margaret, to which David says: “You will help us. Mary Margaret saved your life, so you owe her a debt.”

YOU CAN’T HURRY LOVE | Searching Regina’s crypt with David, Gold realizes that she is compiling “un-broken heart” spell to make Henry think he loves her. At the apartment, he explains that the only way to stop a blood feud is with the spilling of more blood, by killing Regina. Meeting up with Neal at the diner, Henry expresses his fervent desire to rid Storybrooke of magic. Neal counters that until someone finds a way to do that, they should lay low in New York City for a bit. Henry seemingly agrees, only to skip out on his dad, through the bathroom window. (“Did you really fall for that?” Emma asks her baby daddy, noting: “He’s your son!”)

As David, Emma, Ruby and Neal realize that Henry has pinched some TNT from the mines, Henry bumps into Greg Mendel in the woods. After they part ways, Greg phones Regina about her son’s whereabouts, and she soon finds Henry about to blow up the magic well. She poofs the dynamite away, and Henry tries to make her see that the spell she has in mind won’t create true love from him. Emma, David and Neal arrive at the scene, and as a stand-off with fireballs and guns ensues, Henry pleads for a truce. He begs his mother to rid the town of magic, and while she says she can’t, she does destroy the love spell.

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART | Back home, Mary Margaret asks Gold how a person can live with themselves after doing bad things. “You tell yourself you did the right thing — and say it often enough that you might actually believe it,” he answers. Mary Margret shows up on Regina’s doorstep and urges her rival to just kill her. “It has cost us so much, it has to end before anyone else dies,” she explains. “So please, just do it.” Regina plucks out her foe’s glowing red pumper, and happily discovers a dark blemish has formed on it. “I don’t need to destroy you,” she snarls. “You’re doing it to yourself, and you’ll bring down your perfect little reunited family. And then Henry will be mine!” Regina rejoices, “I can have everything! Thanks to you.”

I KNOW THERE’S SOMETHING GOING ON | All this while, Greg is behind the hedges, recording the fantastical front porch encounter on his phone. He then hops into his car, as we see that he has the same braided keychain as that Owen kid. “I’ll find you, Dad,” Greg mutters. “I promise.”

I thought it was a good episode, and of course everyone knew Greg was the little kid. Henry was annoying, but what else is new. Evil Regina will always be better than nice(nicer?) Regina from the first half if the season. Am I the only one that thought Regina came off a bit like a pedophile? That was my only real complaint with the episode.

You’re not alone; I thought the same thing. I was wondering if we were supposed to think Kurt believed she was a pedophile, but that seems a little too dark for Once Upon A Time. I think the scenes might have just been written weird since the writers were really rushed in trying to get across that Regina wants to have a child along with everything else in the episode.

Repeating this here at the top, so more people will see it before posting things so far out of the ballpark. Disney villains are more likely to eat children than bed them. Creepy, absolutely. Randy for little protagonists, no.

Fairytales, especially Disney ones, are filled with “evil-step-____’s.” The baddies have this hole in their lives that they created by alienating the world, so they try to fill it with somebody they think won’t betray them. This also shows that these characters are capable of love but don’t know how to love without hurting somebody, somewhere.

It’s a (sympathetic) character fault, which is something we normally associate with heroes but often gets skimmed over in most stories, in the quest to kill the villain. We don’t normally want to sympathize with the villain…this shows how much the industry has changed, as far as what the Disney writers are allowed to do versus 50+ years ago, when everything was black or white.

As soon as Regina met Greg at the dinner i figured out that he is the adult in storybrook. I love how Regina took grief to next level (Amanda Clark/Emily on revenge should learn a few tricks). I am looking forward to seeing how the fiance fits into all of these. Also where is Greg’s dad and will he age when we see him again?

A little humdrum for me. Flashback scenes were far more intriguing than the present day stuff, mostly due to Henry, I’d say. Not sure if it’s the actor’s delivery or the lines that were written, but I’m finding him very boring, very annoying, and that’s not a good thing for one of the protagonists of the show.

I didn’t like this ep at all. It was a mess, very sloppy full of plot holes. The only thing this ep this was clarify how Cinderella stood pregnant for 28 years, other than that created a lot of plot holes. It was as if the writers didn’t know the story or what to write or even as if they didn’t know the characters.

Good episode. I want to see more Neal, I like him and Emma together. Also I love Henry-he used to be one of the only children I didn’t find completely irritating on tv so I hope his attitude changes soon because it was just annoying tonight. And finally I LOVED the scene between snow and Regina at the end, it was just amazing.

AMAZING episode. It’s up there with The Miller’s Daughter, one of my favorite of the entire series for sure.
Lana carried the episode really really well, and that last scene on the porch was amazing. Both her and Ginny were perfect, great timing and chemistry. I hope Lana makes it into your list of performances of the week, well-deserved.

I’m at least one who agrees with you. I don’t like Neal – I’ve seen nothing that redeems him in my eyes. He’s a crook and a liar and way too full of himself. Opposite opinion, though, on the show. I didn’t care for it. Mostly because I’m tired of Henry’s histrionics. And there’s too many subplots going on now. It’s frustrating and I hope they resolve some of them soon.

Yes, he’s so full of himself. He sent Emma to jail for his crime and now he thinks he can walk into Henry’s life and play super-daddy like that’s how it’s meant to be. By buying him ice cream and teaching him how to run away because that’s what Neal does best. I don’t like him in Henry’s life. I would rather see more of Henry with Emma or Snow and Charming or even Regina than scenes with Henry and Neal.

Teaching him to run away? I’m not the biggest Neal fan, but that was Emma’s idea to get Henry out of town and protect him from Regina’s curse. And pretty much every “I just found out I have a kid” storyline on television involves the parent trying to bribe the kid to like him/her.

I agree. Haven’t cared for Neal since the beginning and he hasn’t redeemed himself yet. Was very happy to see Graham. Still love the first season the best and the original characters and flashbacks the best. I know it has to move forward, but there are just too many new characters. Still love the show though.

Wow. This was a fantastic episode! So glad this show is getting back on track. But I cannot stand Henry. The scene by the well was so hard to watch because of that terrible child. But the scene with Mary Margaret asking Regina to kill her was amazing. By far one of my favorite scenes of the entire series.

So this means Emma was born on October 22nd. Good!
And Regina scenes with Owen and then with Henry, after him leaving her behind again, broke my heart into many tiny little pieces.
I desperately need more scenes between Snow and Regina, like we had tonight. Their scenes are some of the best this show has. Ginny and Lana are brilliant together.

Maybe. He is a lawyer after all (he also got the PhD from the curse, like Archie, lol). Buuuut, he wouldn’t know Henry was Emma’s son because he didn’t remember anything until he heard Emma’s name on the pilot, and that was 10 years after Henry was brought into town. I’m leaning more towards to August, but at the same time I don’t think it was his doing because I’m pretty sure he fled town right after stealing Emma’s money after she was sent to jail and then continued with his life not caring about anything he had promised, until his leg started to hurt.

Well there is only one person who remembered FTL and knows who everyone is, including Emma and Bae. Only one person who could replace Henry’s book when it was lost. And probably the only person who prompted Mary Margaret to give Henry the book. It seems to me that August is the driving force behind it all.

Yes but why this baby? He can’t leave Storybrook. He doesn’t know Henry is his grandson. He doesn’t know where Emma is. Only August knows all of it. In some way he manipulates it so Emma gives her baby to Rumple & Regina.

Given that the next episode is an August story, we’ll probably see just a much he was involved.

Maybe try to lure other children to Storybrooke somehow? Think of it: eighteen years of kids disappearing from camping trips in the wilds of Maine…and little cells under the hospital full of aging children who didn’t love Regina enough….

The town was closed off with magic after Owen ran away. That’s probably why it took so long to figure out how to make an adoption work, too. A fictional town that everyone from our world can enter and check out is one thing, a fictional town that no one from outside could even see and let alone enter makes matter complicated if you want to adopt a child from outside.

I’m confused. If Emma is born on the 22nd and arrives in Storybrooke in the pilot on her birthday, then how is school in session the next morning? It would be a Sunday. Right? But when Emma and Pinocchio arrived through the wardrobe, it was daylight, so maybe her birthday is actually the 23rd and she arrived at 8:15 A.M., the same time the curse finished creating Storybrooke? That way, the next day would be a Monday.

Did anyone else notice the stranger guy said his name was Greg Mendel? As in the father of modern genetics, Gregory Mendel? Ha ha. I’m pretty sure LOST did the same thing, but with philosophers, like John Locke. I wonder if people with names of famous scientists are going to start popping up…

Sheila I agree with you. He does a good job with the lines he’s asked to deliver. He is the only thing that holds the stories together and keeps Regina in check. Otherwise, Regina would do whatever she wants and where is the story in that?

But his delivery is only annoying to some. He doesn’t annoy me. He had some difficult lines to deliver with Regina tonight that were not overdone. His “Thank you” to her after she destroyed the curse was perfect. If he’s not perfect at his craft, I lay that at the director’s feet. They choose the tone they want him to set.

It’s your opinion, and I will respect that, but if his thank you was his best line we have problems since his lines to convince her to destroy magic were wretched and borderline cringeworthy. I guess you can place some of the blame with the director, nonetheless Jared Gilmore needs to work on his more dramatic scenes.

He just over-acts a lot when he’s delivering his lines, and every time he’s told to show emotion when delivering a line he does the exact same thing, over and over.

Not to mention the fact that he gets pissed at Emma for “lying to him” when he does it practically every episode to Regina is also just plain hypocritical. And seriously, dynamite at the well? I know that he’s 10 but who in the world gives a 10 year old access to dynamite.

I like the idea of Henry’s character, but both the delivery and the direction the character is given are really cringe-worthy during some scenes. If they simply had him on the back burner or had him play more solemn/weak roles I think his character would be a lot more tolerable. I totally understand why he’s angry, especially after last night’s episode where it’s pretty clear each character had to repeat the same day over and over (I’m sure that would have just been infuriating for Henry), but now that the curse is over he just needs to chill out and trust that the adults will handle the situation.

I was a little frustrated by the twist ending. No, I did not see it coming and here’s why. So Owen is like what, about 10 years old? So plus 28 years he should be about 38. The guy who plays Greg looks more like 48. He simply looks too old to play this part. this is not the first time I have been frustrated by the casting of old/young characters. bad/Neal looks NOTHING like the little bit who played him, he had auburn and freckles!

I think you mean August looks nothing like the little boy who played him. Pinocchio was the auburn freckled boy with brown/hazel eyes who growths up to be August the dark haired non-freckled blue eyed man. But with the exception of young/old Pinocchio, I think they’ve done a good job with the young old castings.

Sorry i had some typos in my previous comment – Bae/Neal is what I meant to say… While I love the actor playing him as an adult, the little boy who played Bae had auburn hair and freckles. They look nothing alike.

You’re definitely thinking of the kid who played young Pinocchio. Dylan Schmid (kid who played Bae) did not have auburn hair and freckles whatsoever. If you don’t believe that they look alike, then Google Michael Raymond James and Dylan Schmid comparison.

Man, I had to replay that preview for next week like 8 times before I could get it to freeze-frame on the “unlikely hero.” (Looks like it’s a wooden August, I think?) I dunno, I was kinda let down by this episode, especially after last week’s. And as someone mentioned above, why did Regina wait 18 years before she adopted a child if she was lonely by the 1st week of the curse? What should’ve been a really interesting episode just felt kinda like filler to me. (Don’t get me wrong, it was still way better than “Tiny.”) It just didn’t feel quite as interesting as I was expecting.

maybe it took her that long to figure out how to get a child. She would have needed to figure out how to get a child from outside of Storybrook. My question is why didn’t she just get Graham to impregnate her. But I guess the curse prevented that?

One more thing that was bugging me this morning: If there was no magic in Storybrook before, then how was Regina able to use Graham’s heart like a walkie-talkie? You would think that would require magic, right?

Matt – couple issues with the article. First off, this is a minor nitpick, but Mr. Gold didn’t “claim” he knew nothing. He really didn’t remember who he was. Eddy and Adam have confirmed that before.

Also, Regina didn’t cloak Storybrooke. The curse brought the town and hid it from the rest of the world. Owen was already Storybrooke’s borders when it appeared. Thats why he and his father could see it. When he left the town line, he was unable to see it again. Regina had absolutely no part in that, except for casting the curse.

Owen and Kurt were camping outside of Storyrbooke when the town appeared. Remember that scene with them the morning after the curse brought everyone over and they looked down on the town from a hilltop? There’s no way they were stil inside town borders in that scene in my opinion.

but remember the town borders also include forests and streams and toll bridges… if those weren’t part of the town border then anytime anyone of them stepped into the forest (which they tend to do) they’d forget who they are

they specifically state in the episode that they were camping up next to the old toll bridge. As other scenes with Snow White in season one tell us, the toll bridge is within Storybrooke city limits. They were inside the area where the curse was cast. That is why they are the only ones to be able to see the town.

Great episode! Did anyone catch the Tron reference, or was that just me? I would love if they could somehow bring that in (possibly couldn’t be done though). But, I do have to agree that I enjoy evil Regina more… keeps the show interesting.

The new characters are Kyle and Owen “Flynn.” I’m guessing Kyle is Kevin’s brother or cousin, making Owen a cousin to Sam. The bus bench was just their way of letting us officially know the connection without putting it into a forced speech. They’ll expand further on the details as Greg/Owen’s story continues.

The whole episode seemed like pointless filler. I do not like Greg Mendell, Borefire/Neal, and Henry is soooooo annoying. I was expecting everyone to look dressed in 80s fashion and hair, but everyone looks like they do now.

LOL, Borefire. I am pretty bored with him too. Not sure what he’s supposed to add to the show (other than yet another new character with Tamara – as OUAT hasn’t enough of those already this season) so far.

I don’t know why Snow is so despondent when she would have killed Cora in a sword battle if she could, but Cora would have “cheated” with her magic. So…what’s so wrong with killing her the way she did? If not, Cora would happily have killed her to get to Rumple. We’ve seen Snow be tough in the flashbacks, so why is this bothering her so much??

Am I the only one wondering why the holy hell Regina didn’t just have a kid of her own and be done with trying to nick other people’s children? I mean, she’s shacked up with Graham for 28 years and she never once thought “Oh God, I’m so bored and I’d really like a kid… And sleeping with Graham every night isn’t helping as much as it should. WAIT A SECOND!” -facepalms-

I did LOVE the Groundhog Day stuff, it was hilarious to see Regina get bored with it so quickly (although why she didn’t start causing random mayhem just because I’ll never understand), but I was a bit disappointed with the Charmings’ storyline. Henry is annoying as ever (and apparently a demolitions expert in his spare time), and us not seeing Emma or Charming so much as talk ONCE to Snow SUCKED. I was hoping for some actual family bonding, not awkward-looks-while-we-handle-the-baddie-of-the-week and/or deal with Henry’s shrill “I AM THE VOICE OF REASON, YOU WILL OBEY THE ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD CHILD!!!” antics. But I’m looking forward to how the Dark Snow plot turns out.

But this is REGINA. She’s not under the curse and she has access to some magic in SB (a la when she got Jefferson to open a portal to FTL for the apple last season). She could totally do something if she wanted to I’d wager.

An apple is an object. If Regina could mess with time in a way that would not affect human beings in a negative way, the first thing she would have done is to get Daniel back so they could live happily ever after. But it doesn’t work that way.

That was an example of the scope of her ability, not of how she might do it. Well clearly some rules the show takes liberties with. If Jefferson could mess with time and not just send people to different lands Regina could in theory have gone back and stopped Daniel’s death. The show didn’t explicitly state the rules on time travel with the hat. Which I think is part of why they ultimately destroyed the hat (too many loose ends). But my point is that Regina could’ve found a loophole since she is not actually under the curse.

So, my favorite thing about this episode was the return of the Huntsman!!!!!!!! I sooooooo miss him and his interactions with both Emma and Regina! Come on…this is a show about fairy tales and magic! Can’t they PTB figure out SOME way for Graham to come back?!

They’ve said it time and again. Dead is dead and stays dead. If you try mess with it, you only end up with someone who’s in horrible pain and no longer himself (i.e. Frankenstein’s brother, Regina’s true love).

The problem I have is all the new people and the old ones disappeared. Then they have to a back story with them and see how they fit into stroy brook. And Henry is the key to rumple demise. Remember the seer told rumple the child is not what he seems so beware. Annoying or not he is part key to really breaking the curse. Not to mentioned she found out that Henry is snow and charming grandparents. There was no way she was going to let them have happyness.

Not surprised that Greg is actually Owen. I didn’t have to wait until the end of the episode to figure that one out.

Only thing confusing me is why is Gold could remember who he was during the curse, at least in season one, but when the curse is first put into place, he has no clue about his real identity? There is something odd about that.

Eddie and Adam have said before that Gold was in the fog just like everyone else, not knowing his true fairytale persona. When Emma came along in the first ep and told him her name, that is when he got his memories back.

Why is it that Snow’s heart has a black part to it from one time doing something not so great, yet Cora’s heart was a bright shiny red. I mean she did some shady stuff before she ripped her heart out, shouldn’t it be at least burgundy?

Well some shady things is not quite the same as plotting to kill someone and manipulating another person into comitting the act. Even if Cora was a murderer herself – like Snow said: There’s just no coming back from murder. If young Cora had gone through with her plan to kill the king before she removed her heart it probably would have looked the same as Snow’s.

The thing is, Cora ripped her heart out BEFORE turning dark, so her heart remained pure. That’s why it was still perfectly red. It was a pure heart. When Regina put Cora’s heart back into her body we were left with a pure Cora. Had Snow just given her her heart back without the whole candle thing Cora would have turned good AND there’s a good chance she would’ve been able to save Rumple. But the show’s gotta do what the show’s gotta do to continue, right?

Correct me if I am wrong. Remember the episode where we were first shown that Belle was being kept prisoner under the hospital. Wasn’t there a guy being held there and was sweeping/cleaning up (trustee like) as Regina passed by to see Belle. If my memory serves, didn’t that sweeping guy look a whole lot like Kurt Flynn? I’m thinking one in the same. But what happened to him after the curse was broken?

I really don’t like how Henry is treating Emma. It’s just so annoying and he should really just get over it. I feel like the writers are just coming up with a lame way to get Henry to be caught between Emma and Regina. Remember season 1 when Henry hated Regina because she was cruel and was actually the Evil Queen? Then suddenly he’s all “she’s still my mother” and goes back and forth between Regina & Emma.

Maybe it’s just me, but this show feels like the same episode every week. Regina/Cora vs. everyone else with Gold acting as a powerbroker in the middle. It seems like the first season had a more diverse mix of story lines. I wasn’t a big fan of Lost, so maybe these never-ending quest kind of series just aren’t my thing.

I surprised at all the positive comments. No one has commented on the keychain that Greg has at the end! He had given it to the Mayor, so how does he seem to have it back in the truck and “in the present?” What ever happened to David’s supposed “wife?” Mary Margaret got off from her murder charge because she showed back up, never to be seen again in – how many episodes? Too many hanging chads! The writers need to answer some of the questions they introduce before they go off on so many more. Neal’s finance, is she the “black swan” from Swan Lake? Looks like she’s the next “dark” character. There are just too many open-ended issues and getting worse.

Not impatient for backstory, tired of too many dangling story lines while it introduces yet another character. I like the show, but (for me) it’s plotlines have become too entangled in a too large spider’s web this season.

Not as good of an episode as I was hoping for.The flashbacks were far better than the present day stuff. I agree with comments that Henry raised the annoyance bar to new heights. Enough with Henry getting away with nearly getting himself killed. At this point, child services should take him away from both Regina and the Charmings! While I generally do not support spanking, that kid needs a whupping with one of those wooden swords.

All around, not great writing. Neal was stiff. David was almost a non-entity. Emma’s PO’d at Neal but wants him to take Henry to Manhattan? Yeah, that makes sense. (Did we miss some heart-to-heart in the woods?). Snow’s “kill me now” pity-party was more pathetic than angsty/dramatic, IMO. And Regina came across as pedophile-ish, which I’m sure will tick off all of “fans” who think the show is anti-adoption (when it seems to just be all parents screw up all the time; seriously, EXPLOSIVES!?).

Also, if Snow has darkness in her heart, why wasn’t Cora’s heart black as coal? And Emma’s presumably done bad stuff in her life, but she has magic heart powers. And how does Regina figures she’ll get Henry back if Snow goes dark; how does that have any baring on Emma?

Too much ambition on the concept and car chase and too little time spent writing the characters. The show is supposed to be about interpersonal dynamics, but this season they keep falling back on action and magic gimmicks. Ugh.

Cora’s heart wasn’t black because she ripped it out. Long before she became a murderer and villain.
The pedophile talk seriously weird me out because I saw nothing on the show that would suggest something even remotely close to that. But to each their own I guess?

Fairytales, especially Disney ones, are filled with “evil-step-____’s.” The baddies have this hole in their lives that they created by alienating the world, so they try to fill it with somebody they think won’t betray them. This also shows that these characters are capable of love but don’t know how to love without hurting somebody, somewhere.

It’s a character fault, which is something we normally associate with heroes but often gets skimmed over in most stories, in the quest to kill the villain. We don’t normally want to sympathize with the villain…this shows how much the industry has changed, as far as what the Disney writers are allowed to do versus 50+ years ago, when everything was black or white.

I hope they don’t resolve Snow White’s guilt by revealing that this was a plot by Cora to darken Snow White’s heart. I don’t want it revealed that Snow was under a spell that was triggered by finding out her mother was murdered and seeing Johanna killed, I want Snow to actually be responsible for what she did. Perhaps they will reveal that since the characters are in the real world they are no longer all good or all bad as they were in Fairy Land. In the real world they are beginning to act like real humans. Remember Henry said Snow White would never hurt anyone. Perhaps being in the real world has changed that.

I love how many people are ragging on Henry — have any of you met a real 11 year old boy? They hold grudges. They exist to be hypocritical. They also get over it given time. Is it annoying? Yes. Is it realistic? Also yes. No, Jared Gilmore’s line deliveries are not always the greatest, I’m okay with that because at least he’s not being played as a mature adult in a kid’s body. He’s obnoxious, like a real 11 year old would be, especially when he thinks he’s right. Hopefully, we’ll get some scenes soon that show us the side of Henry that the adult characters clearly love (even Gold, before finding out Henry is the kid from the Seer’s prediction).